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In this work a fully kinetic model of the JET SOL with tungsten divertor plates has been developed. It includes the dynamics of main-ions (D + ) and electrons, the neutrals (D, C, W) and the impurity particles (C +m , W +n ). Our simulations show extremely low concentration of W impurity. We identify two reasons which are responsible for this effect: (1) for low temperature divertor plasma the energy of most of the main-ions and the impurities in a low-ionization state impinging the divertor plates is below the W-sputtering threshold energy; (2) with increasing temperature the W-sputtering increases, but the potential drop across the divertor plasma increases too, so that most of the W ions are reabsorbed at the divertors.

Linear kinetic Monte Carlo particle transport models are frequently employed in fusion plasma simulations to quantify atomic and surface effects on the main plasma flow dynamics. Separate codes are used for transport of neutral particles (incl. radiation) and charged particles (trace impurity ions). Integration of both modules into main plasma fluid solvers provides then self-consistent solutions, in principle. The required interfaces are far from trivial, because rapid atomic processes in particular in the edge region of fusion plasmas require either smoothing and resampling, or frequent transfer of particles from one into the other Monte Carlo code. We propose a different scheme here, in which despite the inherently different mathematical form of kinetic equations for ions and neutrals (e.g. Fokker-Planck vs. Boltzmann collision integrals) both types of particle orbits can be integrated into one single code. We show that the approximations and shortcomings of this "single sourcing" concept (e.g., restriction to explicit ion drift orbit integration) can be fully tolerable in a wide range of typical fusion edge plasma conditions, and be overcompensated by the code-system simplicity, as well as by inherently ensured consistency in geometry (one single numerical grid only) and (the common) atomic and surface process modules.

The lithium beam diagnostic at ASDEX Upgrade routinely delivers electron density profiles in the plasma edge by lithium beam impact excitation spectroscopy. An accurate background subtraction requires a periodically chopped lithium beam. A new, improved chopping system was developed and installed. It involves a voltage modulation for the extractor electrode and the beam deflection plates. The modulation of the extractor electrode reduces the unused portion of lithium ions and improves the stability of the beam with respect to its position. Furthermore, the data indicate an extended emitter lifetime. The extractor chopping was also found to be insensitive to sparks. The deflection chopping experiments demonstrated beam chopping in the kilohertz range. The significantly higher modulation frequency of the deflection chopping improves background subtraction of fast transient events. It allows a more accurate density measurements in the scrape off layer during impurity injections and edge localized modes.

We present results of massively parallel kinetic simulations of the triple Langmuir probes at JET. These results indicate that the probes under certain conditions, e.g. during ELMs, can significantly under/over estimate the electron temperature.